The Statue of Liberty weeps,
Ashamed her story,
The story of her origins
Were conveniently edited
Confusing fact with fiction.

The original model, the real inspiration
Was an African Woman
With broken chains at her feet,
Whitewashed and presented as gift
From one colonizer to another.

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. JC prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers…a lot. Her column now appears weekly on Oddball Magazine.